Patterns from Nature Exhibition - V&A

Horst: Photographer of Style

6 September 2014 – 4 January 2015

V&A, London

Patterns from Nature Photographic Collage, about 1945. © Condé Nast / Horst Estate

I am pleased to announce that the V&A will be exhibiting several works by the renowned photographer, Horst P. Horst (1906-99) this Autumn/Winter. A master of light, composition and atmospheric illusion, Horst's extraordinary range of work never fails to express a relentless visual curiosity and passion for capturing the beauty in things. 

Although there are many dimensions to his dynamic portfolio, for us, I think it is the collection of photographs that make up Horst’s second book 'Patterns from Nature' (1946) that will grab our attention the most as botanical illustrators. In this book we find a surprising diversion from Horst's more glamorous, celebrity-based photographs. Instead we find many images of plants, shells and minerals. Many of these are in black and white and have been taken close-up. This series of images is therefore incredibly striking and appears to be a more personal reflection of Horst's raw experience as a photographer. 

This more natural and organic work was apparently partly inspired by Karl Blossfeldt's (1865–1932) photographs of plants . Upon seeing Blossfeldt's images, Horst was struck by ‘their revelation of the similarity of vegetable forms to art forms like wrought iron and Gothic architecture’. Horst’s interest was also linked to the technical purity of ‘photographic seeing’, a philosophy associated with the New Objectivity movement of the 1920s and ’30s. During this time, practitioners would apparently take natural forms out of their context and would study them in such detail that they became unfamiliar, remarkable and unexpected.

RHS Show Updates

A little update about the RHS show on the 11th and 12th April in Vincent Square, Victoria, London. I am delighted to have just found out that I will be painting with Julia Trickey! This is amazing as I am a big fan of hers. I love all of her leaf work and I really liked the big dried flower series she had on display at the RHS a couple of years ago. Julia has just had a first day cover released of her work by the Royal Mail, and you can see the complete series on both the Royal Mail website and in Gallery 6 on Julia's website.

British postal stamp collection (2014), paintings by Julia Trickey

Julia and I aren't the only artists working live. The talented Ann Swan will also be there, and Liv Healey, Emma Hardicker, Susan Entwistle and Hannah McVicar. Hannah illustrated the first 'Jekkas Herb Cookbook' and she also does a lot of work for one of my favourite magazines - Gardens Illustrated Magazine. I really like her bold screen prints, of which I have put an example for you all to see below. There will also of course be all the medallists on show. The RHS have published a list of exhibitors on their website if you are interested in this bit. I am personally looking forward to seeing this section of the show very much, as the accuracy and presentation of their illustrations is usually out of this world. 

So yes, if you haven't booked your tickets to come and see us, please do! If you book for the PV, you get to come back as many times as you like over the two days and it's cheaper in advance. But please note, that we won't be demonstrating at the Private View - only on the Friday and Saturday.

Star of the Veldt £85 by Emma Hardicker

Tall Bearded Iris £95 by Ann Swan

The Garden Path £600 by Susan Entwistle

 Essence of Spring by Hannah McVicar

Hollyhocks screen print £200 by Hannah McVicar

The exciting canvas work of Liv Healey

The Art of Cultivating Hope

It is with great joy that I can announce that Amicus Botanicus are holding an exciting exhibition of new work this May.  The exhibition is entitled "The Art of Cultivating Hope" and it will be held at 54 The Gallery, Shepherds Market, Mayfair London W1J 7QX between Monday 12th to Sunday 18th May 2014.

Victoria Cross - Poppy

In this centenary year of the First World War the artists have kindly chosen to support Gardening Leave, a charity which tends to the invisible wounds of conflict by providing horticultural therapy for troubled Armed Forces veterans with mental health issues. 

 

The artists have produced a collection of paintings of plants suggested by Gardening Leave, some of which held a special meaning for those fighting in the First world War, and others which are of special significance to Gardening Leave in their work.

 

As well as this special collection each artist will be exhibiting the latest of their own paintings, prints, and cards. Do come along and have a look at their gorgeous work. I went to their show a couple of years ago and I was not disappointed. It's a lovely little space which is conveniently located. It's a good stop for anyone in London and for those who are visiting the city to see the SBA show in Westminster as the dates conveniently coincide.

Exhibition in the Gallery at Nymans - Drawn from Nature

From March 8th until 1st June 2014 there will be an exhibition of botanical art at Nymans, the National Trust property and garden near Haywards Heath in West Sussex www.nationaltrust.org.uk. Some of the artists whose work will be on show are Alison Brown, Gillian Barlow, Jill Coombs, Joanna Craig-McFeely, Peggy Dawe, Wendy Page and Judith Hillelson.  Nymans is a fabulous place to visit and I'm sure the exhibition will be brilliant. I think it's well worth a visit and your support would be much appreciated.

 Drawn from Nature

Nymans

 March 8th until 1st June 2014

Nepal Natural History Drawings

This is a unique opportunity to see a display of some of the first scientific natural history drawings from Nepal in London at Embassy of Nepal, 12A Kensington Palace Gardens. 

Daphne papyrifera

 Admission is free, and the show will be open to the public 7-24 January, 

Monday-Friday, 10am-1pm and 2-4pm

This collection of drawings from Nepal was made by Dr Francis Buchanan (later known as Buchanan-Hamilton) between 1802-03, when he was practicing as a surgeon-naturalist on the British Mission led by Captain Knox. During his year in the Kathmandu Valley, he documented more than a thousand plant species, many of which are now rarely seen. This Scottish 'father of Nepalese botany' laid the foundation of botanical knowledge for this Himalayan country, and over 500 new species have been described using his collections.

Woodcut of George Buchanan

Buchanan-Hamilton took with him to Nepal a Bengali artist from Calcutta who prepared exquisite coloured watercolour drawings of over a hundred species – 27 of which have been selected for this exhibition. On his return to England in 1806, Buchanan-Hamilton gave these drawings, and his other scientific records, to his friend James Edward Smith, and they have lain virtually unknown in the archives of the Linnean Society of London ever since. This exhibition is the first public viewing outside Nepal of the Buchanan-Hamilton’s drawings, made by a talented but sadly un-named Indian artist.

Current research is still uncovering the scientific and cultural value of these early collections. Buchanan-Hamilton placed great importance on the local names that the people were using for plants and instructed his Indian pandit, Babu Ramajai Bhattacharji, to record these spoken names and translate them into English. Buchanan-Hamilton frequently used these common names for the new scientific names that he coined and subsequently wrote on the drawings.

Buchanan-Hamilton is now recognised as the pioneer of biodiversity research in Nepal, but he could not have done this by himself and he needed to collaborate with Nepalese and Indian people. As he was one of the first foreigners to spend any length of time in Nepal, he had an unsurpassed understanding of the people, their cultures and traditions, which later helped underpin the developing relationship between Britain and Nepal. Two centuries on, botanical research continues with British and Nepalese scientists working together on the Flora of Nepal.

This facsimile exhibition has been produced by the Linnean Society of London and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, with the support of the Embassy of Nepal and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

It has been sponsored by Nature & Herbs UK Ltd.